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Virus targets Facebook users

A once-popular virus has come back to life and is now targeting Facebook users, according to internet security research lab Zscaler ThreatLabZ. The Zeus Banking Trojan, a virus that logs on to social networks through compromised accounts and stolen passwords and post photos without a user's knowledge.

The virus, the Zeus Banking Trojan, brought up a screen saver and other malware on their computer that could eventually take someone down online. Zscaler ThreatLabZ senior security researcher Mike Geide said it is designed to steal bank credentials and is a botnet that has been very resistant to being taken down.

Geide has suggestions on how to protect from this virus, including enabling TLS/SSL Encryption on Facebook, installing antivirus software and other tools, not sharing as frequently as possible, limiting Facebook apps and logging out of the website when it is not being used.

“We are constantly monitoring the situation and are in the process of blocking domains as we discover them,” Facebook spokesman FredWolens wrote to SC Magazine US on the internet security breach. “We have internal systems in place configured specifically to monitor for variations of the spam and are working with others across the industry to pursue both technical and legal avenues to fight the bug.”